Page 52 of Full Moon Frenzy

When her eyes opened again, she was floating on a warm cloud, her limbs heavy, feeling languid and replete. Not a cloud.

Trapp had rolled them to prevent crushing her while they were tied, the bulbous pressure of his knot sealing them together until it shrank, which it had. She had no idea how long she’d been asleep. Sunlight flooded the windows. Her face was pressed to his chest, her body splayed over his, boneless, his arm draped across her, and the steady rise and fall of his chest beneath her rocked her like the tide.

It was the safest she’d ever felt in her life. Which is just stupid. That’s the moon talking.

The fire within her was gone. Just like the shot of suppressant he’d given her the night before, the relief she felt from achieving what she’d needed had been instantaneous. Him. Adriana scowled at the thought. The last forty-eight hours with him had been the longest of her life, a roller coaster of helter-skelter emotions, and she was exhausted.

It didn’t make a difference how good we were together.

His words ran through her mind as she rested against him, his steady breathing beneath her the only thing keeping her from getting up to pace around the room. She disliked the way it seemed as if he were able to peek into her thoughts, divining that long-ago daydream. He sure as fuck isn’t going to co-opt it, not after the way he treated you. She was at war with herself, simultaneously wanting to close her eyes and breathe him in, snuggled against him, and low-key wanting to slap his dick while she had the opportunity to make it hurt.

When he stirred beneath her, Adriana held her breath, trying to freeze entirely, but it was no good. They were too close to the moon now, everything right at the surface, and there was no hiding her scent from his nose. His shoulder flexed, hips shifting, rocking her against him before his eyes fluttered open.

“What time is it?” His voice was rough. They both needed water; she needed to eat . . . And he needs to leave.

“I’m not sure.” Adriana slid from him, crawling sideways off the mattress, averting her eyes from the wet spot on her bedspread. She couldn’t even remember how or when they’d peeled off their clothing that morning, dropped all over the bedroom floor, deciding it would be more expedient to simply put on something fresh. Her hands shook as she pulled on a tank top from her dresser and stepped into a pair of shorts.

Trapp took his time sitting up, dragging a hand over his face and rubbing his eyes.

“Did you want to . . .”

“I’m probably going to go into the clinic today,” she blurted, cutting him off, not wanting to hear whatever he had to say next. No, she didn’t want to. Yes, you do. “They have a new CNP starting this week, and I should just make sure that they’re okay.”

They both knew it was bullshit. She was on probation, in spirit if not formally. She didn’t need to go into the clinic, but she did need him out of her house. Before you crawl back into bed with him and ask him to stay forever. Adriana shook her head. That was still the moon talking.

He nodded slowly. “Yeah. Of course you do. Sure.” A hard scrape of laughter as he pushed himself from the bed, gathering up his own clothes from the floor, redressing quickly. “I don’t know why I thought anything would be different. You already said it wouldn’t be.”

Her hackles raised, jaws snapping. He needed to be careful. His wolf may have been bigger than her, but she would bite back. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Trapp shrugged, still shaking his head. “It means what it means, Adriana. I’m tired of trying to chase you. It blew up in my face once before. I don’t know why I would be stupid enough to think this time would be different. You’re right, you should definitely go into your clinic today,” he said sardonically, making it clear they both knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

Her fists clenched, heat bubbling in her belly. “No, really. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? By chase me, you mean, what? Chase me out of my job, Trapp? Because I’m not going anywhere; I already told you that. Do you think you’re going to try to bully me out of town the way you tried to bully me out of school?”

He laughed incredulously. “Wow, that is one fantastic revision. You are unbelievable.”

“No, really,” she snapped, unwilling to entertain any of his perfect Trapp Hemming bullshit. “Because I have no idea what you’re talking about. You spent an entire year turning everyone against me, cutting me down every chance you got. Do you think that’s going to work now? Because let me remind you, I am the doctor in charge of the clinic. If you think—”

“You can stop,” he said flatly, interrupting her before she could even formulate the rest of her empty threat. “I said I’m done. I don’t actually like chasing. I know that seems counterintuitive to the whole wolf thing, but I don’t. I didn’t then. I really don’t know why I tried for so long. I like it even less now. So, yeah. We don’t need to do this. Just stay out of my way, and I’ll stay out of yours, I guess. Let’s pretend the last twenty-four didn’t happen.”

He was down the first flight of steps before she shook herself from her enraged stupor to follow. Once again, she knew she should have left it alone, should have let him leave, but giving fucking Trapp Hemming the last word wasn’t a situation she could abide.

“Why did you have to pick me, Trapp? You could have sat anywhere. You could have studied with anyone. Why did you have to drag me into your ego trip like it was a fun little side quest for you?”

He whirled in fury. “Are you being serious? I asked you out like four different times! I tried to include you in things, introduce you to people, but you were completely oblivious to everything but the fucking chip on your shoulder. I’m shocked you managed to get it through the lab door.”

Her face heated. He’d never asked her out. Never once. She was sure of it. He was too popular, too privileged to notice anyone outside of his circle of similarly privileged legacies. Not until she’d proven that she was just as good as him.

“We were partners the whole fucking year, Adi. I spent weeks working on system blocks with you. And what did I get for it? You altered the aortic dissection parameters on my rotation. You changed it just enough for me to not notice the inconsistency, just enough to bomb it. Just as a fuck you for caring about you, I guess.”

She froze. She had altered a set of packet parameters. Several packets, in fact. There were too many people like Trapp in their cohort. Like him, but not as smart, not as quick, not as good. There because their fathers and grandfathers had gone to Mercy, regardless of whether they’d even passed basic biology in undergrad. They all wanted to share notes and pool resources once they’d realized she deserved to be there. She wasn’t willing to give a single one of them an inch, not when she’d had to claw her way to be there while they had family names on the pediatric pavilion.

“I never gave you—”

“You did. And you watched me study it for weeks.”

He kept walking, clearing her living room, descending the second set of steps again.

“You know what, who the fuck cares? I don’t. It was one rotation, Trapp. I grew up in a two-room trailer. My mother cleaned hotel rooms, and my father didn’t show up for my high school graduation because he was in the drunk tank for the night. I earned my way to Mercy, and I did what I had to do for my placement. I scored higher than you on one rotation—”